Dark lagers are a must-have in the fridge come wintertime—or all year round, really. Crisp, clean and refreshing, yet complex and roasty, they’re a flavourful, malt-forward beer that like any good lager will never wear out your palate.

Field House Brewing’s Toasted Coconut Black Lager won gold in the Growler’s recent 2019 B.C. Craft Beer Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Dark Lager, and for good reason. Light bodied and boldly flavoured, it nevertheless finishes crisp and clean with a kiss of hop bitterness.

Based on the traditional German scharwzbier style, this beer is highly Reinheitsgebot non-compliant. But rules are meant to be broken, after all.

The toasted coconut is apparent immediately on the nose, as are notes of coffee and chocolate. Despite the strong malt-forward flavours, this beer finishes dry and begs you to take another sip. There’s something very comforting about dark beers on cold days, and this delicious black lager is worthy of its accolades.

While Toasted Coconut Black Lager is a limited edition release and might be hard to find at this point, I’m hoping Field House decides to make this a regular, year-round part of their core beer lineup (hint hint!).

Toasted Coconut Black Lager by Field House Brewing

Schwarzbier • 6.0% ABV • 32 IBU • 650 mL bottles

Appearance: Jet black with a creamy tan head.

Aroma: Coconut, coffee, roasted malt, chocolate.

Flavour: Coffee, toast, roasted malt, coconut, roasted malt, chocolate, caramel, biscuit, cola, moderate hop bitterness.

Body/Finish: Light/medium bodied with a dry, slightly bitter finish.

Pairs with: Grilled sausages, smoked gouda, black forest cake and gold medals, of course!